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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 1 



Grand Forks 



Metropolis of the Red River Valley ' 



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Commerce, Manufactures 



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PREFACE. 



The statistics and historical and hiographical information contained in 
this work have been carefully collected and compiled with a view of giving 
a true and accurate description of Grand Forks, its past history, present 
condition, and future prospects. 

Particular attention is called to the accompanying map, which was lith- 
ographed from exact copies of the plats on record in the register of deeds' 
office for Grand Forks. The copies were made by one of the most promi- 
nent surveyors of that city, a gentleman whose connection with the work 
is a positive guaranty of its accuracy. 

The publishers are glad to be able to present the citizens of Grand Forks 
with a work which it is hoped will be found, in every respect, worthy of 
the very liberal support which it has received, and they desire to say that 
the unavoidable delay in its publication has been caused solely by their 
desire to have it, as nearly as possible, perfect. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



NOTICE. 



Copies of this work and of similar publications, descriptive of Moor- 
head and Crookston, Minnesota, and Jamestown and Valley City, 
Dakota, may be obtained at the rate of 50 cents for each work, by ad- 
dressing 

Northwestern Publishing Company, 

(Box 2258,) Saint Paul. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S82, by the 

NORTHWESTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Grand Forks 



Brief Sketch of the History of Dakota and the Red River Valley 



THE SOIL, CLIMATE AKD AGRICULTURAL. ADVANTAGES 
SPLENDID COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL POSI- 
TION OF GRAND FORKS— DESCRIPTION 
OF THE CITY, ETC., ETC. 



A glance at the map of the United States will show the reader the very 
important position that Dakota occupies, relative to the other sections of 
the Union. From the British provinces on the north it stretches by a suc- 
cession of beautiful and fertile prairies to the state of Nebraska on the south. 
On the east is Minnesota, rapidly becoming one of our most important and 
influential commonwealths, while to the west lie the territories of Montana 
and Wyoming, with their immense deposits of valuable metals and miner- 
als. When to this unexcelled geographical position is added the fact that 
Dakota embraces a territory estimated at 149,100 square miles, or 95,424,- 
000 acres, it will be seen what a splendid future she has before her. Fig- 
ures so vast are not easily grasped by the mind, and our readers may per- 
haps better understand the size of this territory by comparison with some 
of the Eastern states and foreign countries. Pennsylvania, for instance, 
contains 45,215 square miles and New York 49,170, so that each of them 
is less than one-third the size of Dakota. Great Britain and Ireland to- 
gether are 27,000 square miles smaller than this territory, and Italy only 
a little over two- thirds as large. 

When it is remembered that all this vast region is susceptible of culti- 
vation; that its population has risen from 14,181 in 1870 to nearly a quar- 

(3) 



THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



ter of a million to-day; that numerous towns and cities, future centers of 
commercial and industrial activity, are springing up on all sides, — when all 
this is remembered, it will be seen that we do not exaggerate in saying that 
Dakota is uiidoubtedly destined to occupy in the near future a position po- 
litically, agriculturally, and commercially inferior to none of ^the older 
states. 

Although Dakota as a whole is so remarkably fertile and productive, 
there are sections which are particularly notable, the more so that they 
are the best among so much that is good. 

THE RED RIVER VALLEY 

is the chosen region par excellence of th^ farmer, a region unexcelled by 
any on the face of the earth for the surpassing fertility of the soil and the 
wonderful crops, especially of wheat, which it produces. 

THE RED RIVER 

has its source in Big Stone Lake, in the county of the same name, Minne- 
sota, and flowing north by a winding and circuitous route, empties into Lake 
Winnepeg, in the British province of Manitoba. 

The length of the valley from Big Stone Lake to Lake Winnepeg is about 
300 miles, while its breadth is about 100 miles. The whole of this vast 
section was at one time completely under water, forming the bed of an 
immense lake, which, when it dried up and disappeared, left behind it a 
deposit of rich mud — the present soil of the valley. 

The following, from the pen of Professor Denton, of Massachusetts, 
published originally in the Diduth Tribune, is one of the best and .most 
lucid explanations ever attempted of the wonderful geological changes that 
took place in this region at the close of -the glacial period: 

" When the cold of the glacial period gave place to the present climate, 
the indications are that the change took place instantaneously, and the 
great ice sheet then covering this northern region — in some places a mile 
or more in thickness — was" (by a new inclination of the earth's axis to the 
plane of its orbit) " suddenly introduced to a temperate climate. Melting in 
the hot summer suns, it produced a flood, the effects of which are observable 
to the geologist from North Minnesota to the Gulf. But such a body of ice 
melted not in one or a dozen summers. For many years lay the great 
ice field to the north, preventing the passage of waters in the direction the 
general slope of the country here would have led them, and thus, as far 
south as the slope of the land would permit, a lake existed where the Eed 
Eiver Valley now is, and gradually enlarged to the north as the ice melted. 
At the bottom of the lake mud was continually being deposited, produced 



OF GRAND FORKS. 



by the ground-down Silurian, Devonian, and Cretaceous beds lying to the 
north, over which the ice still for many years continued to move, bearing 
masses of their earthy substances. When it was all melted the dammed-up 
waters found a natural outlet to Hudson's Bay, and the Eed river was 
formed. Thus in the Eed Eiver Yalley the glacial drift — boulders, gravel, 
etc. — is covered deep beneath the lake mud, and that mud is now the soil 
of the country, admirably adapted to the production of grain best fitted to 
build up the physical system of man." 

Favored with a soil so exceptionally adapted to cropping, especially of 
the King Cereal, the farmers of the Eed Eiver Valley have succeeded in 
producing a quality of spring wheat which has not its equal in the world 
for milling purpose. This is 

THE FAMOUS NO. 1 HARD, 

of which the celebrated Minnesota flour is made, a flour which commands 
the highest prices in all the marts of commerce. So deej) are these 
rich deposits of fertile loam (from 24 to 30 inches, with a splendid clay sub- 
soil) that they are practically inexhaustible, and wheat has been grown 
yearly in the same soil, in the neighborhood of the present city of Winni- 
peg, for over 50 years. 

Before dismissing the subject of the agricultural advantages of the Eed 
Eiver Yalley, we must say a word on that most important point, 

THE CLIMATE, 

as a matter very intimately connected with the successful conducting 
of all farming operations. Persons who have never passed a winter in 
Minnesota or Dakota are generally of the impression that the climate is 
intensely cold — a perfect Artie winter — almost unbearable by either man 
or beast. Never was an opinion more erroneous or less sustained by 
facts. That the climate of the Northwest is not as mild as the climate of 
Florida no one deities, but that it is far more healthy is indisputable. In- 
stead of the damp, wet atmosphere of the Eastern and Middle states, caus- 
ing pulmonary diseases of all kinds, the Northwest has dry, clear, bracing 
weather, and the cold is not near as perceptible as in sections where the 
thermometer scarcely ever reaches zero. During the winter of '81-'82, the 
coldest month, January, had a mean temperature of 5.5 degrees, while De- 
cember's average was 20.3 degrees, and February's 16. T. These figures 
are from the United States Signal Service at Moorhead, and their accuracy 
can be relied on. 



THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



It may perhaps be thought that we have devoted too much space to 
Dakota and the Eed Eiver Valley in general, to the detriment of what is 
more particularly the subject of this work, 

THE CITY OF GRAND FORKS. 

But it should be remembered that it is on the country that cities 
depend for their business and support, especially in a new country like 
this, whose manufacturing interests are as yet comparatively undeveloped. 
If the surrounding country is rich, and the agricultural community numer- 
ous and prosperous, business in the towns is sure to be lively, and the 
merchants contented and happy. This is exactly the position of Grand 
Forks, for rapid as has been her growth and development, enormous as 
have been the improvements that she has made in every particular during 
the past two or three years, the country has outgrown the city, and we 
doubt if there is a merchant or business man who is not doing a large 
and satisfactory trade. 

The name. Grand Forks, is derived from the fact that the city is 
located at the junction of the Eed Eiver and one of its most important 
branches, the Eed Lake Eiver. 

Both of these streams are navigable, the former as far up as Fargo 
and Moorhead, 80 miles distant from the Forks by rail, and the latter to 
Crookston. Eegular lines of steamboats ply between Fargo and Winnipeg, 
calling at Grand Forks during the summer season, and large quantities 
of freight are shipped by this cheap and convenient route. The rivers 
also afford an invaluable water-way for the transportation of millions of 
feet of lumber, which are floated down from the immense pineries of 
Minnesota to the various saw-mills along their borders, where they are 
speedily utilized in building the happy homes of the emigrant and new 
settler. Some idea of the importance of this lumbering industry may be 
formed from the fact that the "drive" of last year was over 3,000,000 
feet, while this year it will reach 7,000,000, and perhaps more. The 
borders of the rivers in the neighborhood of the city are heavily wooded, 
and fuel, that great requisite of a prairie country, is to be had at from $2 
to $3 per cord. 

THE EARLY HISTORY 

of Grand Forks dates back no further than the year 1869, when Captain 
Griggs, of the firm of Hill, Griggs & Co., in company with Captain McCor- 
mick, the present mayor of the city, built a rude log hut, the first building 



OF GRAND FORKS. 



erected by white men within the limits of the present city. The Red 
Eiver Valley was at that time comparatively unknown, except to a few hardy 
frontiersmen, who, ever on the alert to discover favorable commercial points, 
had pushed out far beyond the then limits of civilization. The Northern 
Pacifiythe pioneer north-western railroad, had not as yet commenced track- 
laying, and three years were to elapse before it should reach the Eed river, 
at Moorhead. The St. Paul & Pacij&c, (now the St. Paul, Minneapolis & 
Manitoba,) the management of which was originally connected with the 
Northern Pacific, though nominally a separate company, did not lay its 
tracks on the east side of the Red River until 1872, so that in winter, when 
the stream was frozen, all the supplies needed by the pioneers of Grand 
Forks had to be hauled by teams for long distances. The trials and vicis- 
situdes of these early settlers would have completely discouraged men less 
resolute than Captain McCormick and his companions, but they were of 
that material of which the true western pioneer is made, and were men 
who knew no such word as fail. 

In 1873, very shortly after the St. Paul & Pacific had reached Crooks- 
ton, the Jjrearest railroad town to the Forks, the great financial panic, 
precipitated by the heavy failure of Jay Cooke & Co., and the suspension 
of all building operations on the Northern Pacific, occurred, and for over 
two years, until 1875, the whole Northwest was in a state of complete 
business inactivity. Emigration ceased, and numbers left the country, 
returning to their former homes in the eastern states. 

When the panic of 1873 occurred, the population of Grand Forks did 
not exceed half a hundred, and the general merchandise store of Griggs, 
Walsh & Co. was the sole representative of the commercial interests of the 
town ; forming, with a saw-mill and boat-yard, the entire business estab- 
lishments of Grand Forks. 

In 1874 the Hudson Bay Company, having bought the pioneer mill 
and store, proceeded to erect the Northwestern Hotel and a new store, 
which, notwithstanding the terrible depression in business all over the 
country, and especially in the Northwest, started a small building boom, 
which continued throughout the year, adding several new houses and stores, 
and attracting a few new settlers. In 1875 the business outlook com- 
menced to brighten, though very slowly, and construction was recommenced 
on the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, under a new management, who 
changed its name to the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Company. 
Mr. J. J. Hill was the master-mind who directed the fortunes of the new 
organization, and who has pushed on, overcoming all obstacles, until to-day 



THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



his railroad ranks as a prosperous, paying investment with any other road 
in the country. 

The line of the railroad, however, passed through Crookstou, 26 miles 
distant from Grand Forks, and it was necessary that she should build her 
own railroad to the former city, if she desired to fully benefit by im prox- 
imity of the great trunk line. Accordingly a number of enterprising gen- 
tlemen, forming the Eed Eiver Transportation Company, undertook the 
construction of this short line, and on October 1, 1875, the whistle of the 
locomotive was first heard in Grand Forks. Although the completion of 
all rail communication, via Crookston, was an important event in the com- 
mercial history of this cit^, yet it was soon evident that a direct line was 
an absolute necessity if the interests and growth of the place were to be 
fully developed. The Manitoba Company accordingly, in 1879, com- 
menced the construction of their line from Fargo to Grand Forks, and 
the first regular train passed over the new road on January 1, 1880. The 
population had now increased until it numbered nearly 1,200, and numer- 
ous stores and dwellings bad been erected on all sides. When six months 
later, in June, the United States census was taken, 1,800 persons were 
returned as residents of the city, while the population of Grand Forks 
county was 6,248. The vote of the county, which at the election for con- 
gressional delegate, in 1878, had been 370 for the Eepublican candidate to 
308 for the Democratic, was, in 1880, 604 Eepublican and 888 Democratic 
votes. 

Since 1880 the growth of Grand Forks has been phenominally great. 
Hundreds have come from almost every state in the Union, and Europe 
and Canada are largely represented by the thrifty and industrious Scan- 
dinavian, German, and Irish, and the enterprising Canadian. New stores, 
devoted to almost every branch of business, have been opened, manufac- 
turing establishments started, and a trade already amounting to millions 
has been built up. Although as yet this trade is almost entirely retail, 
yet several of the largest houses are acquiring a jobbing business, and the 
numerous thriving towns and settlements which dot the country in every 
direction, and whose natural wholesale depot is undoubtedly Grand Forks, 
leave no room for doubt that this city will become in the near future an 
important wholesale market. 

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF GRAND FORKS 

could not be more favorable to its continued growth and prosperity. New 
enterprises are continually being started by men of large capital and long 



OF GRAND FORKS. 



business experience, whose connection with a business is a positive guar- 
anty of its success. 

Tlie location of the city on the banks of the Eed river affords, as we 
have already said, a cheap means of transportation for freight either 
south to Fargo and the Northern Pacific, or north to Winnipeg and the 
Canadian Pacitic. The enterj)rising citizens are not, however, satisfied 
with a single water route, and they propose to build, in connection with the 
citizens of Duluth, a canal which will connect the two cities, and afford 
a cheap means of transportation for the immense crops of the Eed Eiver 
Valley to the Eastern states, via Duluth and the great lakes. The 
advantages which will at once accrue to the whole Northwest when this 
canal is completed are too evident to need any elaborate explanation. 
Freightage by rail is necessarily more costly than by water, and this 
cost is not unfrequently increased far above its legitimate figure by the 
demands of railroads in sections where they have no competition, or are 
not led by a pooling arrangement to entn-ely control the carrying 
business. 

The surest and easiest way to obviate a monopoly of this character is 
undoubtedly to construct canals wherever practicable — a truth which the 
people of the Northwest have, with their usual foresight, been quick to ap- 
preciate. 

The distance from Duluth to Grand Forks is 380 miles ; but the number 
of navigable rivers and lakes, and natural water-ways, lying between the two 
cities, reduce the distance over which it would require a canal to be con- 
structed to less than 40 miles, and the entire cost, including dams and 
locks, to $4,000,000. The Eed Eiver and its tributary streams furnish 
4,000 miles of navigable waters, and the extent of territory that would 
benefit by the construction of this canal is immense, not only in its extent, 
but in the vast crops which it annually yields. Eastern capital is largely 
interested in the enterprise, and five years will undoubtedly see this splen- 
did work accomplished. 

Next in importance to the canal are 

THE NUMEROUS LINES OF RAILROAD 

already built, or shortly to be constructed, and which have Grand Forks 
for a central and connecting point. 

Of the roads to Crookston and Fargo we have already spoken, but there 
still remains to be mentioned the western extension of the Manitoba to 
Larimore, and the Devil's Lake country, and its northern route to the inter- 



10 



THE COMMEECE AND MANUFACTURES 



national boundary, near Pembina. Both of these lines pass through and 
by numerous villages and towns, the trade of which, together with that 
of the surrounding country, is naturally tributary to Grand Forks. 

Besides these branches of the Manitoba railroad system, a new road is 
to be constructed from Grand Forl^s to Columbia, Dakota, which will af- 
ford a competing line with the Northern Pacific to Chicago and the east. 
This is no paper road, but one on which construction has already com- 
menced, and w4iich a few months will see completed and in working order. 
At Columbia this road will connect with the Northwestern, over whose 
lines and connections freight can be shipped to any point in the Union. 




HIGH SCHOOL. 



THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS 

of Grand Forks reflect the greatest credit on the enterprise of its peo- 
ple. A splendid brick court-house, erected at a cost of ^15,000, affords 
roomy accommodations for the various county offices. A high school 
which cost $20,000, and which, for architectural beauty or solidity of con- 
struction, leaves nothing to be desired, attests the interest the citizens 
take in the great cause of public education. There are, besides these, two 
more important buildings — a $5,000 city hall, and a $10,000 jail; this 
latter, however, is not yet completed, although the money has been voted 
and the contract let. In this connection we must also mention the new 



OF GKAND FORKS. 11 



water-works, which will supply the entire city with plenty of clear, good 
water, and the electric light shortly to be introduced. The grading and 
paving of the streets is being forwarded in a manner which sets a notable 
example to many older and more pretentious cities. 

THE STORES AND DWELLINGS 

of Grand Forks are of the most substantial character; many of the most 
prominent professional and mercantile firms occupying handsome brick 
and stone blocks, a large number of which have been erected during 
the present year. Perhaps the largest and handsomest business block in 
the city is that of the Citizens' National Bank, on the corner of Third 
street and Kittson avenue, a cut of which will be found on another page 
of this work. The building occupied by the First National Bank, on Third 
and Bruce streets, and another on Third street, between Kittson and 
De Mers avenues, and several others equally large and imposing, and all 
built of brick and stone, show that Grand Forks is rapidly becoming a 
city of no mean proportions, and one that is destined to become an 
important commercial metropolis in the near future. 

In private residences, the splendid mansion of Captain Griggs, one of the 
earliest pioneers of the Bed Biver Yalley, and a gentleman who has always 
identified himself with the material progress of this city, is a dwelling- 
house which would be a credit to any large gUj. Its erection cost the 
Captain §15,000. 

THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS 

are all represented by large and flourishing congregations. The Presby- 
terians, Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans, and Catholics have all fine 
churches; the last-mentioned denomination having just erected a large 
building on Sixth street, which is not yet completed. It is the finest 
church in Dakota, being 40x118 feet, brick veneered, and cost 818,000, all 
of which amount was raised in a short time by the members of the congre- 
gation, assisted by their fellow-citizens. 

SOCIALLY 

Grand Forks leaves nothing to be desired. The population, though cosmo- 
politan in character, is made up of men and women of sterling character. 
industrious and persevering, who take the greatest interest in the develop- 
ment of their beautiful city. The Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and 
other secret organizations count many members among the citizens. Near 



12 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



the city is located a fine driving park, where annually there takes place 
two or three days' racing, very liberal purses being offered, (this year 
$40,000,) and consequently the meeting draws together some of the finest 
horses in the Northwest. 

THE IMPORTANT MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS 

are mentioned more at length further on in this work, so we shall only men- 
tion them briefly now. 

The flouring mills, breweries, etc., are all doing a large business and 
adding greatly to the material wealth of the city. A foundry is soon to be 
started, and judging by the success that has attended the inauguration of 
similar enterprises in neighboring cities, it will speedily obtain all the 
business necessary to make it a splendidly-paying investment. A paper 
mill, which would convert into building paper the immense quantity of 
straw produced in the valley, would undoubtedly be very successful. This 
is an enterprise which would receive a most liberal support from the citi- 
zens, either in grants of money or land, and as the demand for building 
paper is very large, and there is only a single mill of the kind in northern 
Dakota, it could not fail to do a good paying business. 

A RECENT ASSESSMENT 

of the taxable real estate and personal property of Grand Forks county, of 
which the city is the county-seat, gives for the latter $3S9,320 as the total 
personal; the principal items being: Manufactures, $7,999; merchandise, 
$172,050; horses, (numbering 218,) $20,445; cattle, (numbering 64,) $2,- 
360; money and credits, $58,400; stock and shares, $62,600. The total 
personal assessment for the county is $1,094,428, — an increase of $494,241 
over the previous year; the principal items being merchandise and hor- 
ses, — the former showing an increase of $109,578 and the latter $101,513. 
In real estate the increase in value has been equally as marked : the 
total county assessment for lands being $1,584,111 for 1882, as against 
$701,999 for 1881,— a difference of $882,112 in favor of the former year. 
The county acreage is placed at 269,498 in 1882, and 129, 327 in 1881,— a 
gain of 140,171 acres during the year. We should remark here, that 
government lands and those (homesteads and pre-emptions) on which the 
settlers have not yet proven-up and perfected their title, are not included 
in the foregoing. The taxable lots in the county number 5,681, and are 
valued at $1,000,582, of which lots 2,322 are in Grand Forks city, and are 
valued at $879,137. The following summary will show at a glance the 



OF GRAND FORKS. 13 



wonderful increase in tiie value of taxable property of all kinds that has 
taken place in the county during the past twelve months : 

SUMMARY. 

1882. 
Farming Lands, ------- $1,584,111 

City Property, 1,000,582 

Personal Property, .-..--- 1,094,428 



3,679,121 



1881. 

Farming Lands, - - - - - - $701,999 

City Property, _--.-. 309,725 

Personal Property, - - - - - - 600,187 $1,611,911 



Total gain, - . - . - - . $2,067,210 

This splendid record of material progress is one of which Grand Forks 
has every reason to feel proud, since it is one equaled by few and excelled 
by none of the thriving cities and towns of the Northwest. Indeed, if 
we consider the x>er centage of increase — one hundred and twenty-eight 
PER cent. — in one year, it is an increase such as no other city in America 
can show. 

While writing on this matter of taxation we may mention that the 
rate of county and territorial taxation is 12 1-5 mills on the dollar, 
divided as follows : 

Territorial, - _ . - 

County, - - 

Road and Bridge, ------ 

School, _--.--_. 

County sinking fund, ------ 

Total, - - - 

Such, in brief, is the commercial history, present condition, and future 
prospects of Grand Forks, one of the most promising cities in Dakota. 
To the following pages we must refer the reader for more lengthy sketches 
of the principal business houses and industrial enterprises of the city, and 
for many interesting statistics useful alike to the merchant, capitalist, or 
professional man who desires to establish himself or invest his money 
among an enterprising, industrious, go-ahead people such as are the 
citizens of this, the metropolis of the red river valley. 



3 7-10 mills 


2 


3 


2 " 


1* 


12 1-5 mills 



14 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



BANKS. 



Grand Forks has three banking institutions, all possessed of ample cap- 
ital, and doing a large and lucrative business. The rapid increase in size 
and importance of the city, the numerous new enterprises which are daily 
springing into existence, and the large agricultural country of which Grand 
Forks is the center, create a large demand for capital, whiqh is sent in 
large quantities from the money centers of the eastern states for safe and 
well-paying investments in the real estate and commercial and industrial 
enterprises of the great west. In the following pages we give brief sketches 
of the principal banks, all of which are thoroughly reliable, being well and 
carefully managed by competent parties, most of whom have had a long 
experience in this business in the east. 

CITIZENS' NATIONAL BANK. 

We mention this bank first among the financial institutions of the city, 
not only on account of its large capital and able management, but likewise 
because it is the successor of the pioneer bank of Grand Forks, which was 
one of the first banking houses established within the territory of Dakota. 
The original bank was known as the Bank of Grand Forks, and was con- 
trolled by very nearly the same gentlemen as those who are interested in 
the present organization. It continued as a private concern from Sep- 
tember, 1879, until October, 1881, when the business had grown to such 
proportions, and its future seemed so secured, that it was resolved to re- 
organize as a national bank, under the name of the "Citizens'." Accord- 
ingly the capital was placed at $50,000, an amount which was speedily 
subscribed, and Mr. I. S. Eshelman was chosen president, and Mr. S. S 
Titus as ciashier. The large and handsome brick building on the corner 
of Third street and Kittson avenue was used for the offices of the bank, 
and elegantly and comfortably fitted up. As a national bank its career of 
usefulness was materially extended, its deposits increasing until to-day they 
amount to considerably over $200,000. The Citizens' does a general 
banking and loan business, buys and sells foreign and domestic exchanges, 
and offers a sure and safe medium to distant parties for the transaction 
of all local financial business, such as the payment of taxes, purchase of 



OF GKAND FORKS. 15 



real estate, or the making of collections, to which last branch of business 
the bank devotes especial attention. The Merchants' Bank of St. Paul is 
its correspondent in that city, while at Chicago it is connected with the 
Union National Bank. The gentlemen connected with the Citizens' are 
among the most prominent and influential citizens of Grand Forks, men 
who have largely contributed, by their enterprise and push, to placing this 
city on its present substantial footing. 



THE MERCHANTS' BANK. 

Next in order of seniority to the Citizens' is the Merchants', a private 
banking house organized in the summer of 1881 by Mr. E. P. Gates, the 
capital of which is also S50,000. 

Mr. Gates, when he first came 'to Grand Forks, was engaged in loan- 
ing money on real estate, — one of the safest and most profitable uses to 
which he could have possibly put his capital. The rapid growth of the 
tciy, and the increasing opportunities for investments which were daily 
occurring, led Mr. Gates to establish his bank as an easier method for the 
transaction of his business. The Merchants', like the Citizens', does a 
general banking business, its St. Paul correspondent being the First Na- 
tional Bank of that city. At New York it transacts its business through 
the Importers & Traders' Bank, one of the strongest financial institutions 
in the metropolis. 

The Merchants' Bank also loans money as a first mortgage on improved 
or unimproved real estate, and Mr. Gates's long experience in this business 
enables him to conduct it most successfully. 

He is a gentleman who enjoys to an eminent degree the respect and 
confidence of all who know him. 



THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK. 

The growing size and importance of Grand Forks led some of its most 
influencial citizens to organize on the fourth of October, 1881, a national 
bank under the title of the First National. Mr. H. G. Stone was elected 
president and Mr. C. E. Burrell, cashier, offices they have continued to fill 
with credit to themselves and to the entire satisfaction of all interested, 
both stockholders and depositors, ever since. 

That the public spirit which prompted its organization was duly appre- 
oiated by those for whose benefit the institution was started, is shown by 



16 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTUEES 

the fact that in less than a year of its existence its deposits already 
amount to thousands of dollars, and its orginal capital of $50,000 has been 
increased by a handsome surplus. A business which can show a record 
like this for its first business year, requires few words of praise. Its bal- 
ance sheet speaks volumes for its able management, and the high esteem 
in which its officers are held by the community in which they live. 

This bank, like the Merchants' and Citizens', does a general banking 
business; the First National Bank of St. Paul, Merchants' National of 
Chicago, and Merchants' National of New York, being its correspondents in 
the three cities named. 

The directors have recently erected at the corner of Third street and 
Bruce avenue a substantial brick building, which the bank occupies. The 
structure is 24x60 feet, and cost $6,000; the interior fittings and fur- 
nishings being as handsome and commodious as those of any bank in the 
territory, and reflecting great credit on the public spirit of those who con- 
trol the affairs of the First National. 



M>^ 



THE PROFESSIONS, 



LAWYERS, DOCTORS, AXD REAL ESTATE DEALERS. 

Under this title we include all who are not bankers, merchants, or 
manufacturers; the majority, it will be seen, being those engaged in the 
real estate business. It is one of the happy features of a young and pros- 
perous community that there is very little litigation, and while the legal 
profession is represented at Grand Forks by many talented and able gen- 
tlemen, the amount of purely legal business is comparatively small. 
Land, the great basis of all real material wealth, is the great commodity 
dealt' in by all classes in the west, and most of the lawyers are real estate 
brokers as well. The advantages that accrue from this are numerous 
and important. Most of the members of the legal profession hare 
many acquaintances in the older states, who, reh'ing on their knowl- 
edge, ability, and integrity, authorize them to act as agents for the invest- 
ment of large sums of money, either as loans on real ^estate, or in its pur- 



OF GRAND FORKS. 17 



chase outright for investment and speculation. Thus much foreign capital 
has been drawn to this section which otherwise would have never come 
here, and the value of land, and the improvement of the city and country, 
have been materially aided and advanced. 

The doctors, while confining themselves more exclusively to their pro- 
fession, are also mostly land-owners, many of them having considerable 
capital invested in Dakota lands. To give some idea of the amount and 
value of real estate transactions, as well as their growth and importance, 
we have had prepared the following table, showing the warranty deeds 
recorded in Grand Forks county for the two years ending September 1st, 
1882. 

While the list embraces all the warranty deeds that have been left for 
record up to the time of its compilation, there are undoubtedly many 
which have never been brought to the Eecord Office, and which, conse- 
quently, it was impossible to include. This is particularly^ the case as 
regards the last few months, many deeds remaining unrecorded for months, 
and even years, after their delivery. 

This will account for the fact that for July and August in the present 
year there is an ajDparent falling off in the liumher of deeds, although the 
amounts are relatively as large. It is known that the sales of property 
were very large during both of these months, but, as we have said, months 
may elapse before the deeds are brought to the Eecord Office. 

The totals and the increase, Grand Forks may well be proud of, for they 
are larger than those of any city in northern Dakota or western Minne- 
sota. Jamestown and Moorhead, on the Northern Pacific Eailroad, whose 
joint populations about equal that of Grand Forks, although the counties 
of which they are the county seats contain 1,839,024: acres of land, 
nearly a million more than Grand Forks, have 240 deeds less on record for 
1881-82; a fact which clearly demonstrates which country is consid- 
ered the better by the majority, of emigrants and new settlers. 
2 



18 



THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



TABLE OF WARRANTY DEEDS 

Kecorded in Grand Forks County, Dakota, for the Two Years Ending 

August 31st, 1882. 



Months. 



September. 

October 

November. 
December . 
January . . . 
February. . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

Total.... 



1880-81 


No. 


Amoujnt. 


25 


$12,285 


47 


22,702 


53 


37,163 


89 


44,627 


56 


27,547 


75 


71,194 


63 


33,755 


62 


49,376 


50 


33,331 


60 


33,237 


56 


37,964 


51 


27,013 


687 


430,194 



1881-82 
No. Amount. 



41 $ 24,776 



100 
113 

60 
69 
58 
168 
195 
215 
150 
137 
120 



74,610 

91,560 

49,033 

71,451 

64,319 

251,099 

243,884 

266,304 

189,398 

171,661 

154,500 



1426 



1,652,595 



OF GRAND FORKS. 



19 




BOSARD & CLIFFORD. 

The senior member of this prominent legal firm is a native of Pennsyl- 
Tania, and a graduate of the Mansfield Normal School in that state. After 
completing his studies in that institution, he entered the law office of Mr. 
Mortimer F. Elliott, the present Democratic nominee for congressman atlarge 
from Pennsylvania. Under that gentleman's direction he pursued a 
thorough course of legal study, and was admitted to the bar August 26, 
1870, at Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, and for five years thereafter he was the 
law partner of his legal preceptor. In 1879, Mr. Bosard came west, locat- 
ing at Grand Forks, and establishing himself with Hon. George H. Walsh, 
one of the pioneer attorneys of this section. During the first year, when 
Grand Forks was but a hamlet and the surrounding country but sparsely 
settled, and the legal business consequently limited, he was deputy regis- 
ter of deeds and deputy clerk of the district court, continuing, however, the 
practice of his profession. 

Mr. George B. Clifford, the junior partner, is also an eastern man by 
.birth and education. He is a graduate of Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, 
Massachusetts, and received his early legal training and instruction in the 



20 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES ' 

« 

office of Hon. Roswell Farnham, the present governor of Vermont. In 
September, 1880, he was admitted to the bar of that state at Montpelier, 
where he remained until the following March, when, no longer able to re- 
sist the allurements of the new north-west, he came to Dakota. Very 
soon after his arrival in Grand Forks the present partnership was 
formed. In connection with their legal practice they engaged in the 
loaning of money on real estate and chattels, and having many friends in 
the east who placed with them funds for investment, the^^ soon acquired a 
large and lucrative business. In March of the present year, in connection 
with several Vermont capitalists, they organized the Vermont Loan & 
Trust Company, of which Mr. J. H. Merrifield is the president and Mr. R. M. 
Sherman the secretary. Messrs. Bosard & Clifford then retired from act- 
ive participation in the loan and real estate department of the business, 
devoting themselves entirely to their law business and the legal affairs of 
the company, for which they are the attorneys. 

Their offices occupy the entire second story of the Citizens' National 
Bank building, and are as nicely finished and furnished, and they have as 
large and well-selected a law library, as any law firm in the territory. 

These gentlemen, by their ability and large practice, have acquired a. 
prominent place among the members of the Dakota bar. 

VEEMOXT LOAX & TKUST C0:MPAXY. 

In the previous article — that on Messrs. Bosard & Clifford — we men- 
tioned the fact that this company succeed to the loan businesis of those 
gentlemen, and that it was organized in March — the 22d — 1882. 

Mr. J. H. Merrifield, the president, is from Vermont, as is also Mr. E. 
M. Sherman, the secretary, both of these gentlemen having removed to 
Grand Forks last March, just previous to the organization of the company. 
The Vermont Loan & Trust Company lends money in large or small 
amounts, on long or short time, and on either real estate or chattel mort- 
gages. They are at present the agents for a large number of eastern 
capitalists who desire to invest their money where it is perfectly safe and 
yielding a much larger per centage then they could possibly obtain for its 
use in the Eastern states. It will not be inappropriate for us to say a 
word just here explanatory of the exceptional advantages which the west 
affords for making the very best investments. In the first place, land here 
is at bottom figures. The large quantities of government and railroad land 
to be had in various parts of this territory, at a comparatively trifling cost,. 



OF GRAND FORKS. 21 



and on long time, prevent the great inflation of prices which would be the 
undoubted result of the immense immigration which the country is receiv- 
ing. While, however, the present figures are low, the near future will un- 
doubtedly see a vefy rapid and substantial rise, as the country becomes 
more thickly settled and la;nd scarcer. Hardly any combination of circum- 
stances could occur to prevent the doubling in value of property in north 
Dakota within the next five years at least. Added to this fact — the pres- 
ent cheapness of land — there is the general prosperity of the people, and 
the prospect of immense crops, which will place, beyond a doubt, the bor- 
rowing class in a position to fully and promptly meet all their obligations. 

We have dwelt at length on this matter of substantial security for 
money loaned to farmers and others in Dakota, because we believe it to 
be one which is only commencing to be thoroughly understood and appre- 
ciated by eastern capitalists. 

No matter how good the security, however, the non-resident investor is 
obliged to rely mainly on the honesty, ability, and knowledge of his agents, 
and it is therefore important they should be responsible and competent 
parties. The Vermont Loan & Trust Company is composed of gentlemen 
of long experience in the real estate and loaning business, thoroughly 
acquainted with the value of property, and with the various laws and regu- 
lations controlling its transfer. They are loaning upon Dakota farms from 
$15,000 to $25,000 a month, and have had the best of opportunities to test 
by practical experience the safety and security of investments here. Loans 
made through this company net the lender eight to nine per cent. As it 
is well known here that these gentlemen have always on hand large sums 
for investment, they have daily applications for loans, and are consequently 
able to select the very best and safest investments offered. Eastern par- 
ties desiring to made safe and jKofitable investments of their capital, can- 
not do better than to enter into correspondence with this company. 

JOHN LAMB. 

Mr. Lamb, previous to coming to Grand Forks, was for 11 years a 
resident of Minneapolis, Minn., where he was engaged in the practical pur- 
suit of his profession, that of a civil engineer. While there he was engaged 
in designing many of the most important bridges and elevators on the line 
of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Bailroad west of the Mississippi 
river. Among these works we may mention, as evidences of his skill and 
ability as an engineer, the bridge over the Minnesota river at Chaska, 



22 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 

Minn., which is 250 feet in length, and another on the line of the Atchi- 
son, Topeka & Santa Fe road, a splendid structure, costing $30,000. 

Mr. Lamb moved to this city in June of the present year and formed a 
partnership with Mr. W. D. Haycock, also of Minneapolis. But this lat- 
ter gentleman having withdrawn from the firm, Mr. Lamb continues in his 
own name. 

The importance of the business of a civil engineer cannot be overesti- 
mated in a country like this, where property changes hands so rapidly, 
where almost every day sees important additions laid out adjoining the 
principal cities and towns, and where the constant subdivision of large 
tracts of land into lots and small farms demand the constant services of a 
practical surveyor. 

Mr. Lamb finds his time constantly occupied, and indeed it is with 
difiiculty that he is able to attend to all the orders he receives for survey- 
ing and designing. As a practical evidence of his skill as a draughtsman 
and surveyor, we would call attention to the map of Grand Forks which 
accompanies this work, and which has been carefully lithographed from 
plats furnished by him. We are confident that it will be found the best 
map of this city yet published and we especially recommend it to the 
careful consideration of those who have not yet visited the city, but who 
are thinking of coming here to engage in business and to establish them- 
selves as members of this prosperous community. By studying its gen- 
eral outlines they will readily understand the advantageous position which 
the city occupies on the Bed Biver, and the systematic way in which it is 
laid out, — advantages which have materially aided in its growth and de- 
velopment. 

Mr. Lamb, during the time he has been located in this section, has had 
an opportunity to study the chances for success that this country offers to 
the live, energetic man, and unhesitatingly says that he believes that any 
man of common ability and not afraid to work, can always make a living 
here, and if economical and saving can lay by something for the future at 
least. 

PARS0:N^S & TEELE. 

These gentlemen are among the most prominent real estate dealers in 
Grand Forks. Mr. Teele is from Blinois, and came west, locating at Moor- 
head, Minnesota, in 1880. There he was for some time the editor of the 
Daily Argonaut, but last March he removed to Grand Forks, and opened a 
real estate office in company with Mr. Cole. This latter gentleman, how- 



OF GRAND FORKS. 23 



ever, shortly afterwards withdrew from the firm, and Mr. Teele continued 
the business alone until last month, when he formed a partnership with 
Mr. Parsons. Their list of farming lands and town lots is the most ex- 
tensive in the Northwest, and comprises over twenty thousayid acres , a large 
portion of which lies in the famous Eed Eiver Valley, the most fertile and 
best wheat country in the world. They have some quarter (160 acres) 
sections and sections, every acre of which is susceptible of yielding over 
25 bushels of the celebrated No. 1 hard wheat to the acre, and these they 
are offering on long time and at very low figures ; much below the price 
which they will undoubtedly bring in a few months. Western people, 
believing that their true interests lie in settling up as rapidly as possible 
the vast prairies and fertile plains which characterize that section, prefer 
to sell on the most advantageous terms, so as to encourage immigration, 
rather than to retard it by waiting for high prices. 

This explains the fact that improved farms can be obtained in Dakota 
for less than they would rent for in the eastern states or Europe. 

To those who desire to engage in some commercial pursuit, in any of 
the various booming towns of the Eed Eiver Valley, Mr. Teele offers excep- 
tional bargains in town lots for either business blocks or residences. He 
is the agent for Comstock & White, the owners of the town-sites of the 
thriving towns of Grafton, Minto, Manvel, Ardock, Hilsboro, Grandin, 
Fisher's, Sabin, etc. He has a personal knowledge of each of them, and 
can and will give full particular^ to any one seeking information. 

In Grand Forks he is the owner of one of the finest and largest addi- 
tion to the city, and agent for Mr. A. Holes, in whose addition he offers 
900 very desirable lots. He has also lots in McKelvey's and Budge & Esh- 
elman's additions, and in the business center of the city. 

ANDKEW HOLES.' 

Although Mr. Holes is not a resident of Grand Forks, he has contrib- 
uted so largely and so materially to its advancement and progress in wealth 
and prosperity, by investing large sums in city property, and by aiding in 
various ways in the development of its material interests, that any work 
descriptive of this city would be incomplete if it did not contain some men- 
tion of him. Mr. Holes is one of the original pioneers of the Eed Eiver 
Valley, one of those who, with true business foresight, foresaw the great and 
important position which this section of the United States was destined to 
occupy as one of the largest and best agricultural regions in America. 



24 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



He came west over 10 years ago, before the Northern Pacific had laid its 
tracks to the Eed Eiver. He was instrumental in securing the town-site 
of Moorhead for the Puget Sound Town-site Company, and has ever since 
been identified with the most important business interests of that city. 

Guided by a long and practical experience, which enables him to forsee 
with accuracy the probable future of most of the new towns which are 
constantly springing into existence in the Eed Eiver Valley, he came to 
Grand Forks, which he knew was destined to be a verij important point, 
looked oyer the ground and invested in a large tract of land, which he 
immediately proceeded to have surveyed and laid off into lots, and which is 
now known as "Holes's Addition." A glance at the map which accompa- 
nies this work will enable any one, no matter how slight may be their 
knowledge of the plan of Grand Forks, to see at once that Mr. Holes 
selected his property with judgment, and that no more desirable lots are 
to be found an3^where in the cit}', especially when, besides their excellent 
location, the liberal terms on which they are offered for sale is considered. 
Mr. Holes is not one of those "penny-wise, pound-foolish" capitalists who 
are always waiting for a rise in the value of their property; he believes, 
and knows, that to successfully build up a new town, lots must be sold at 
a reasonable figure, one which will be sure to attract purchasers, and, 
although not a resident, as we have said, of this city himself, he still 
earnestly desires to see her prosper and grow, and proposes to aid this 
prosperity and growth hj every means in his power. With this aim in 
view he is offering his lots at very low figures, and has, consequently, dis- 
posed of many of them. He still has on hand, however, a large number 
of splendid residence and business lots, and any one desiring to invest in 
Grand Forks real estate cannot do better than to address either him, per- 
sonally, or his local agent, Mr. A. L. Teele, the real estate dealer, and 
editor of the Golden Valley. 



GRAND FORKS LAND & LOAN COMPANY. 

The excellent opportunities for the making of safe investments, bearing 
a higher rate of interest than is obtainable in the east, which the Northwest 
offers, attracted the attention of several eastern capitalists, who organized a 
land and loan company, with an office at this point. Mr. P. S. McGillivray, of 
Washburn, Ontario, a gentleman very well and favorably known through 
eastern and central Ontario for his business talents, being appointed man- 
ager. Previous to opening their office here he made an extensive tour 



OF GRAND FORKS. 25 



through North Dakota, familiarizing himself ^ith the agricultural and 
commercialadvantages of the different sections of the country. 

On his return to Grand Forks he decided to pay more attention to the 
handling of real estate than was first intended, and, with this end in view, 
associated with him Mr. W. D. McGregor, a gentleman whose experience 
in the real estate business and large connection throughout North Dakota 
made success in this line a certainty. Both these gentlemen are lawyers, 
and members of the Dakota bar. 

This company has now on its books a long list of desirable farm lands 
and city property. It makes a specialty of transacting business for non- 
resident parties, such as buying property for speculative investment, loan- 
ing money on first mortgage, etc. 

Those intending to come west to locate or invest, can, by entering into 
correspondence with this company, obtain full and accurate information 
and all particulars desired, thus avoiding the loss of time and expense in- 
cidental on a journey to the Golden Valley of the Northwest. 

BATEMAN & CHAMBERLIN, 

sale and feed stable and veterinary infirmary, are in the center of the 
city, being on De Mers avenue, a few yards below Third street. Mr. Bate- 
man, the senior partner, is from Port Perry, Ontario ; Mr. Chamberlin is 
from Belvidere, Illinois. Both came to this city early in 18S1. These 
gentlemen make a business of importing horses and mules, making a spe- 
cialty of those most suited for the new settler or agriculturist, at the same 
time bringing in and having always on hand a few choice drivers and 
heavy draughts. From the fact of these gentlemen being veterinary sur- 
geons and buying all their own horses, they are careful to buy none but 
sound animals. They have been nearly two years in business in this city, 
and it is good evidence of their success that they are arranging to erect a 
large new stable, which will be one of the best in the city. Parties in want 
of horses or mules will do well to give them a call before purchasing else- 
where, as they are both permanent and reliable. They have also a branch 
stable at Grafton, where they also do a large veterinary practice, which is 
conducted by E. L. Foy. Mr. Bateman being a graduate of the Ontario 
Veterinary College, Toronto, Canada, and having an experience of over 
ten years, is a sufficient guaranty that he is duly qualified to treat all dis- 
eases to which the horse, mule, or ox is subject. 



26 THE COMMEECE AND MANUFACTURES 

The Messrs. B. & C. also make a speciality of examining horses as to 
soundness, and attend cases of all kinds both in town and country requir- 
ing veterinary skill, on the shortest notice, day or night. 

A. H. DE LAXEY. 

Mr. De Laney was a real estate dealer and sewing-machine agent, 
strange as it may seem to some of our eastern readers that any-one should 
conduct two branches of business seemingly so opposite as these. 

When he first came to Grand Forks, in 1878, the population only num- 
bered 800, and the railroad had not yet reached here. He opened a store 
and established himself as a machine agent. Gradually, however, he 
became interested in handling real estate and in making loans on well- 
secured mortgages. This branch of his business, at first of but slight 
importance, rapidly grew to large proportions, until to-day he is one of the 
most prominent real estate and loan agents in the city. Loaning money 
on well-secured real estate security may be considered as his specialty, 
and having been, comparatively speaking, one of the earliest settlers, he 
is thoroughly acquainted with the value of property, and consequently 
knows at once exactly how much money can be safely lent on it. To par- 
ties in the eastern states, who have large or small sums which they desire 
to invest where the rate of interest is higher, while the security is equally as 
good, as in the older sections of the country, Mr. De Laney olfers his serv- 
ices as one thoroughly competent to act as their agent in making all such 
investments. Land here is as low as it is ever likely to be, even in times of 
panics or great financial distress, so the security offered is certain not to 
depreciate in value. Besides, there is another point in favor of the safety 
of western investments, and that is, that western people, if not more hon- 
est, certainly show themselves much more willing to pay their debts, strange 
as it may seem to those who know nothing of this section or its people, 
except what they have gleaned from sensational reports about Indians and 
desperadoes. 

When Mr. De Laney's real estate business grew to such large propor- 
tions, he resolved to relinquish his sewing-machine interests, so as to 
devote himself entirely to the former occupation. Accordingly, he recently 
disposed of all his stock and fixtures, and the entire sewing-machine bus- 
iness, and now has no connection with it. 

He is a gentleman who enjoys, to an eminent degree, the esteem of all 
who know him. 



OF GRAND FORKS. 27 



ELDER & CO. 

Among the professional firms of Grand Forks none rank higher than 
Elder & Co., although they are among the most recent acquisitions to the 
professional community. 

Mr. Elder is from Iowa, where he was engaged in his present business, 
so that he came to this city thoroughly competent to attend to all its de- 
tails. He at once made himself acquainted with the city and surrounding 
country, and speedily obtained the agency for the sale of a large amount 
of town property and desirable farming lands. He shortly afterwards as- 
sociated himself with Mr. W. A. Selby. This latter gentleman is a lawyer 
by profession, a graduate of a prominent Pennsylvania law school, in 
which state he practiced for some time after his admission to the bar. On 
coming to Grand Forks he devoted himself more particularly to practicing 
before the United States Land-Office. He attends to all land contests, final 
proof papers, etc., and has had an extensive and very successful experience^ 

Perhaps no fii'm in the city has more complete or larger lists of property 
for sale than Elder & Co. They have lots in every addition to the city, 
either improved or unimproved, farms at various points in the Ked Eiver 
Valley, and are able to offer many very desirable bargains. 

It often happens that parties intending to come West desire to enter 
into correspondence with some thoroughly reliable real estate agent, who 
can place them in the way .of obtaining the class of property they desire be- 
fore coming out themselves. By this means they are enabled, by dealing 
through a broker or agent, to have their farm or house all prepared and 
selected for them w^hen they arrive, thus enabling them to commence busi- 
ness immediately on their arrival. This, when practical, is a very wise 
and judicious plan, and is to be greatly commended. Messrs. Elder & Co. 
are prepared to act in this way for any of their customers, and thorough 
and complete reliance can be placed in their judgment and reliability. All 
who are thinking of emigrating to this fertile and prosperous region can 
obtain from this firm all the information needed, and plats and full descrip- 
tions will be sent them, by which to select their purchases themselves, if they 
so prefer. Both the members of the firm are well known to the citizens of 
Grand Forks as square-dealing, public-spirited business men. 



28 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



H. P. WILLSOX & SON. 

The senior member of this prominent real estate and insurance firm 
is from Wabasha county, Minnesota. He is by profession a lawyer, hav- 
ing pursued a long and careful course of legal study at Wabasha, in 
which town he also practiced for several years after his admission to the 
bar. Being attracted to Grand Forks by reason of her superior business 
advantages, he, in the early spring of 1881, opened an office in this city, 
in partnership with his son, Mr. Frank A. Willson. 

Here he relinquished the practice of his profession, (with the exception 
of appearing before the U. S. Land Office,) devoting himself entirely to 
dealing in real estate, and the placing of loans on improved and unimproved 
property, in which he has been ver}^ successful. 

Land here is as low as it is ever likely to be, even in times of panics or 
great financial distress, so the security offered is certain not to depreciate 
in value. The profits derived from farming and merchandising are so 
large that the borrower, if engaged in either business, is almost sure to be 
able to pay the interest regularly. 

All that is needed, therefore, is an honest, competent agent, who will 
attend faithfully to the safe placing of the loan, the collecting of the inter- 
est, and the return of the principal when the time expires. 

Mr. Willson possesses, as we have already shown, both the legal knowl- 
edge and practical experience to act as agent for any eastern parties desir- 
ing to invest either in this cit}^ or surrounding country. He says that any 
amount of money could be safely placed in this section at not less than 
seven per cent. 

He has already transacted business of this character for large numbers 
of non-residents, and always with the most satisfactory results. 

Mr. Frank A. Willson devotes himself exclusively to the insurance branch 
of their business, which is very large, as the}^ have the exclusive agency 
at this point for several of the largest companies in the country, among 
which we may mention the New York Life, with a capital of $46,000,000, 
the Home Fire Association, Phoenix, Continental, etc., the total capital of 
.which aggregates $43,000,000. 

These gentlemen rank among the foremost professional firms in the 
city, being indorsed by some of the most prominent public and business 
men of the Northwest^ 



OF GRAND FORKS. 29 



LEWIS LAMB. 

Mr. Lamb conducts a real estate office on De Mers avenue, just east 
of the Griggs House. 

He is from New York, and came to this city in February, 1SS2. Al- 
though a comparatively recent acquisition to the ranks of the jDrofessional 
community, Mr. Lamb has been very successful as a real estate dealer, 
and has now on his books one of the largest lists of town and country prop- 
erty of any broker in the city. His improved and unimproved farms, 
situated in various parts of the country, »are adapited to almost any class 
of agricultural pursuits. The new-comer desirous of buying and locating 
in this favored region cannot do better than, on his first arrival, to ex- 
amine this list of property, and he will find Mr. Lamb willing and glad to 
assist, to the utmost of his power, in obtaining just the character and 
description of farms desired. 

Much valuable time is not unfrequently wasted and serious mistakes 
made by parties who, instead of availing themselves of the experience and 
knowledge of others, prefer to follow their own ideas, without having the 
slightest acquaintance with the country or its advantages. x\ll this might 
be avoided if recourse was had to a thoroughly reliable land agent like Mr. 
Lamb, in whose office may be found maps, plats, and a complete descrip- 
tion of all the lands he has for sale. 

He enjoys a reputation for business ability and square dealing second 
to none in the city, and makes a specialty of transacting business for dis- 
tant parties by correspondence. 

JOHX ZERFASS, Je. 

This gentleman makes a specialty of city real estate, although he is also 
the agent for a large amount of out-of-town propert3^ His office is on De 
Mers avenue, just west of the Griggs House. To merchants and business 
men, who x^^opose to remove their establishments to Grand Forks, or to 
those who desire to engage in any industrial enterprise, Mr. Zerfass's lists 
of city property offer many desirable bargains, and it would be of advan- 
tage to those persons to place themselves in communication with him, as he 
can undoubtedly be of much service in advising them. 

Having a thorough knowledge of the city he is specially qualified to 
handle town property, and many of the best located lots in the city for 
business purposes are under his control. He also has a list of desirable 



30 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 

residence lots in the best residence part of Grand Forks, and these he is pre- 
pared to sell on the most liberal terms. He guarantees satisfaction in all 
business transacted b}^ him, and has made many important sales, some of the 
best property in the city passing through his hands. He will gladly answer 
all letters of inquiry concerning Grand Forks and its vicinity. 



Xh( 



MANUFACTURERS, MERCHANTS, ETC. 



We have already spoken in our opening sketch of the important com- 
mercial position Grand Forks occupies at the confluence of the Eed and 
Eed Lake Eivers. We have noted the fact that she is undoubtedly destined 
to be an important manufacturing and mercantile center, — the distributing 
point for the surrounding country. That her manufactures are as yet un- 
developed, or comparatively so, is evident when we remember that the city 
is of such recent growth, and that a large manufacturing center takes time, 
money, and untiring industry to build it up. Still she has already her flour 
mills, manufacturing a superior grade of flour from the famous "No. 1 
Hard" wheat, in the growth of which the surrounding country is so pro- 
lific. She has breweries, saw-mills, boat-yards, carriage and wagon fac- 
tories, and good prospects of a foundry and paper-mill at no distant day. 
But these are the mere pioneers of the large manufactories of which she 
shall one day be the seat. As the country which surrounds her settles up, 
as her own population increases, as, above all, the numerous lines of rail- 
road and canals which wall connect her with other large industrial centers 
are completed, she will gradually rise into a large, substantial, and impor- 
tant manufacturing city. 

Her wholesale jobbing trade, as yet only a commencement, is rapidly 
becoming larger and more extensive, and needs only time to make it an 
important factor in her future greatness. 



OF GRAND FORKS. 31 



LUKE, STEELE & CO. 

There can be no more important and useful business in a new and rap- 
idly growing agricultural community, like that of the Northwest, than 
dealing in farming implements, and the gentlemen who have the agencies 
for the leading manufacturers invaribly have a very large trade. Luke, 
Steele & Co. are the local agents for the Buckeye mower and reaper, har- 
vester and self-binder, Sweepstakes threshers, and Monitor engine, besides 
handling the Lake City wagon, Hoosier seeder, Hollingsworth and Tiger 
hay -rakes, and Deere plows. 

The members of the firm are Messrs. D. W. Luke, W. N. Steele, and 
P. N. Trahn, gentlemen of large experience in dealing in farming machin- 
ery. The firm also carries a full line of general hardware, stoves, tin-ware, 
glass, nails, etc. 

The principal office is at Grand Forks, but the firm has branches at 
Grafton and Minto, two thriving Dakota towns, on the Manitoba railroad, 
not far from this city. 

The business of the firm for the last year has been very large and sat- 
isfactory, and they are about to erect a handsome brick building, 50x100, 
on the site of their present agricultural warehouse. 

E. TAYLOR & CO. 

This firm established themselves in the retail grocery business in this 
city during the past summer, purchasing the property which they now 
occupy for that purpose. Their store is on Third street, in a central and 
eligible locality-, convenient to both the resident and business portions of 
the city. They make a specialty of fancy groceries, pickles, and fine teas 
and coffees. It may be well to remark that it is specialty stores of this 
kind — stores which confine themselves to a single branch of business, as 
groceries, dry goods, clothing, etc. — which distinguish Grand Forks from 
the majority of w^estern towns, marking her distinctively as an important 
business point; for it is onl}^ where the population is large, and trade 
extensive, that a classified business can exist. In small towns, the stores 
are mostly of the general merchandising class — dry goods, groceries, etc., 
being sold by the same firm or establishment. 

Messrs. Taylor & Co. have had the satisfaction of finding their business 
venture rewarded by a marked success. 



32 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



BROOKS BROTHERS. 

It can be readily understood that in a country like this, where each day 
adds its hundreds, and often thousands, to the population, no business can 
be more important than that of dealing in building materials. Houses are 
alike a necessity to the farmer, the merchant, and the traveler, and shelter 
is always the first object of the solicitude of the new settlers. 

Brooks Brothers' is one of the oldest and most reliable firms engaged 
in the lumber business in Grand Forks, where they have established for 
themselves an enviable reputation for their square dealing, and the thor- 
ough business principles which characterize all their transactions. 

eJULIUS SILL. 

Among the recently established business houses we may mention that 
of Mr. Sill, who is the proprietor of a dress goods and millinery store. 

His stock of ladies' goods is very large and well selected, and offers to 
the fair sex of Grand Forks an opportunity for purchasing all they need 
without the necessity of sending to the larger cities. This is an advantage 
which the ladies will not be slow to avail themselves of, as shopping by 
letter must certainly lose many of the fascinating qualities which belong 
to the system of personally visiting the stores and examining the goods. 

Mr. Sill intends to spare no pains to keep his establishment fully up 
to the demands of his customers and the needs of a rapidly growing com- 
munity. 

]M. W. SULLIVAX. 

The wholesale and retail liquor store of which Mr. Sullivan is the 
genial proprietor, is on East Third street near the post-office. 

His establishment is one of the best in the city. It is fitted up in a 
neat and attractive style; the stock of choice wines and fine liqaors is one 
of the largest and best-selected in Grand Forks, and the bar and fixings 
are handsome and substantial. Mr. Sullivan is among those enterprising 
business men who have already made endeavors to obtain for Grand Forks 
a portion of that wholesale jobbing trade which she is undoubtedly des- 
tined to acquire in the near future. While giving his personal attention 
to all the details of his retail business, he is gradually enlarging and ex- 
tending his jobbing trade, and already has met with the most gratifying 
success. 



OF GRAND FORKS. 33 



Mr. Sullivan entertains the highest opinion of the future of the city, 
and considers it as a business point second to none in the Northwest, 
especially in the golden valley of the Eed Kiver. 

Besides his liquor business he is also a wholesale and retail dealer in 
cigars, and carries a large stock of the finest brands. He does a large 
and satisfactory business, which is rapidly increasing. 

DAYIS & CAXXIFF. 

The members of this enterprising firm of house, sign, and carriage 
painters are gentlemen of great experience in that line. Mr. Canniff came 
to Grand Fprks from Kingston, Canada, where he was engaged in business. 
He is, however, a native of England, and brings to his present occujDation a 
thorough and practical knowledge of all its requirements. 

His partner is also a practical painter of long experience, and a thorough 
master of his trade. 

Being practical workmen, they personally supervise and manage all 
work intrusted to them, and employ only skilled help to assist them. 

Besides painting, they take orders for frescoing, kalsomining, graining 
to imitate all the various kinds of wood, gilding, glazing, and paper hang- 
ing. They carry a large and well-selected stock of wall paper, and do a 
large business in this line. They make a specialty of imitating marble, 
and specimens of this class of work executed by them show that they thor- 
oughly understand the business. 

Theii' orders are so numerous that they are kept constantly busy, and 
are forced to employ some seven or eight men to help them. 

WILLIAM BUSSE. 

Mr. Busse devotes himself to administering to the wants of the inner 
man by keeping a first-class confectionery and ice-cream parlor, as well 
as by conducting a first-class bakery, known as the " Palace Bakery." 

He is from St. Paul, but has been a resident of Grand Forks for some 
time. 

Good bread is one of the great requisites for the enjoyment of perfect 
health, and, in supplying the citizens with an A. 1. article, Mr. Busse 
has found his reward in obtaining one of the best customs in his line in 
the city. 
3 



34 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 

His establishment is fitted up in the neatest style, and everything about 
the place is clean and inviting. 

His stock of confectionery, fruits, and nuts is large and fresh, and he 
exerts himself to satisfy all the demands of his patrons. 

M. EUETH. 

The establishment of which this gentleman is the genial proprietor is 
known as the "Ked Front Grocery." It is located on Third street, in one 
of the most central localities in the city. 

This gentleman carries a full line of staple and fancy groceries, teas, 
coffees, and canned goods, of which he makes a speciality; his stock being 
the largest in the city. His goods are all fresh and well selected, especially 
the fancy groceries, and he aims to keep constantly on hand a full supply 
of everything needed by his numerous customers. He has consequently 
acquired one of the largest and finest customs in his line in the city. 

Mr. Eueth is from Cold Springs, Stearns county, Minn., where he was 
formerly in business. He came to Grand Forks and established himself in 
this store in last March, and at once took rank among the most enterprising 
and public-spirited citizens. 

T. KICE. 

Cleanliness being next to godliness, laundries should be valuable aids to 
us on our road to heaven, and Grand Forks is certainly very fortunate in hav- 
ing such a well-conducted establishment of this kind as that over which 
Mr. Kice presides. 

The Cascade Laundry is on Third street, between Alpha and De Mers 
avenues, opposite the Commercial Hotel, a central and convenient local- 
ity. Mr. Kice, the proprietor, is a gentleman who has had a long and 
practical experience in this business, and he conducts his laundry in a 
manner which places it at the head of anything of the kind in Dakota. 

He makes a specialty of fine work, which he does up equal to new, and 
has consequently secured the patronage of a large number of the promi- 
nent citizens of Grand Forks. 



OF GBAND FORKS. 35 



JOHiq^ J. McCALLUM. 

In the spring of 1879 Mr. McCallum opened a merchant tailoring estab- 
lishment in this city, a branch of business which had previously been 
greatly neglected. He purchased a large stock of cloths, cassimeres, etc., 
and, being a practical tailor of long experience, he soon obtained an exten- 
sive custom, which has ever since been on the steady increase. Indeed, 
the clothing made by this gentleman compares, in elegance of style and 
neatness of fit, with anything turned out by the best eastern establish- 
ments. He has the patronage of all those who desire a fine suit and a 
good fit in the city, besides a large country trade, parties coming to him 
frequently from a distance to make their purchases and leave their orders. 

M. WITTELSHOFEE. 

Mr. Wittelshofer is proprietor of the finest jewelry store in Grand 
Porks. 

He is a gentleman who has had a long experience in his present busi- 
ness, and when, in the Fall of 1880, he came to this city and opened his 
present establishment, he speedily obtained a large and lucrative trade. 

He makes a specialty of re^Dairing watches and jewelry, and in this 
department of his business he has been especially successful in his efforts 
to please his customers. His stock of jewelry, silver and plated ware, 
watches, etc., is very large and well-selected, and exceeds in variety of 
styles and novelty of design that of any similar establishment in the city. 

Mr. Wittelshofer takes great interest in the development of the material 
interests of Grand Forks, and speaks in the highest terms of the city's 
advantageous location for commercial and industrial business of all kinds. 
As an evidence of this he cites his own experience, his sales having so 
greatly increased during the past few months that he has been obliged to 
remove from his old store to his present large and commodious quarters. 

H. & E. tharaldso:n'. 

These gentlemen conduct a general merchandising establishment. 
Their store contains a large and complete assortment of dry goods, notions, 
boots, shoes, clothing for men and boys, hats, caps, ladies' dress goods of 
all kinds, table and household linen, staple and fancy groceries, and a 
miscellaneous assortment of everything in the dry goods and grocery line. 



36 THE COMMEBCE AND MANUFACTURES 

Everything has been selected with the view of supplying all the demands 
of a large and growing trade, and the quality and prices are as various as 
the tastes and pockets of the purchasers. 

The proprietors are from Norway, but have been living and doing busi-* 
ness in this country for several yeaij^. They enjoy a large custom, and 
are patronized by the majority of their co-patriots, who make up no incon- 
siderable portion of the enterjDrising, industrious citizens of this section. 

C. ANDEIiSOX. 

The need of competent wagon and carriage makers, in a city sur- 
rounded like this by so large an agricultural population, is evident at the 
first glance; and Grand Forks is fortunate in possessing a gentleman who 
has had a long and practical experience in the business, and who is a 
thorough master of it. We refer to Mr. C. Anderson, who came to this 
city in the spring of 1880, from Ked Wing, Minnesota, of which place he 
had been the pioneer wagon and carriage maker. 

He also attends to horse-shoeing, in which branch of business he has 
acquired one of the best runs of custom in Grand Forks, the farmers com- 
ing from the surrounding country to patronize him. 

He has a paint-shop connected with his factory, so that he is able, not 
only to make, but to j)aint and finish carriages. 

He thinks Grand Forks one of the best business points he knows of. 

P. T. McQuillan. 

This gentleman is the proprietor of a retail wine and liquor establish- 
ment on Third street, next door to the Merchants' Bank. The stock of 
wine and liquors is very large and well selected, everything being of the 
best and purest in the market. 

There are several billiard tables of the very best make, handsome bar 
and fixtures, and everything is conducted in the best style and most orderly 
manner. 

As Mr. McQuillan's establishment is one of the most centrally located 
in town, in the very heart of the business section, near the intersection of 
the two principal streets, (Third street and De Mers avenue,) and conven- 
ient to all the larger hotels, he does a very large business, and speaks in 
the highest terms of the promising future of Grand Forks. 



OF GEAND FORKS. 37 



C. L. BAKER. 

The business conducted by this gentleman embraces everything in the 
grocery, provision, and crockery line. Besides a complete assortment of 
the staple articles usually found in a store of this kind, Mr. Baker keeps 
constantly on hand a full line of fancy groceries, sauces, crackers, essences, 
etc. The central position of Grand Forks, connected by numerous railroad 
lines with all the growing towns of the Bed Biver Valley, is such that she is 
rapidly becoming a distributing point for the surrounding territory, and 
her jobbing trade has already assumed no mean proportions. Mr. Baker 
and his fellow merchants are doing all they can to encourage the establish- 
ment of this wholesale trade by offering large stocks of goods at low prices. 
Mr. Baker makes a specialty of this branch of business, and is rapidly 
gaining a large jobbing trade. He is also an extensive dealer in teas, of 
which he handles the largest stock in Grand Forks. He is an enterprising, 
energetic business man. 

HARRY BEYER. 

Mr. Beyer came to Grand Forks in February, 1881, from Emerson, 
Manitoba, and established himself at once as a first-class, practical painter. 
The rapid growth of the numerous towns and cities in the Northwest, and 
especially of places of the size and importance of Grand Forks, has created 
an immense demand for mechanical labor of all kinds, and while even the 
poorest workmen find plenty to do, those who are thoroughly masters of 
their trade at once find themselves in the greatest demand, and in a posi- 
tion where their skill and knowledge will command the highest remunera- 
tion. This is the case with Mr. Beyer, and it is not surprising to learn 
that every moment of his time is fully occupied attending to the numer- 
ous orders he is constantly receiving for work from those who need the 
services of a first-class painter. Many of the new and handsome buildings 
recently erected in Grand Forks owe a large part of their interior decora- 
tions to his skill, and bear evidence to the fact that he thoroughly under- 
stands his business. 

HALEY & LESTER. 

Among the recent acquisitions to the business community of Grand 
Forks is the firm of Haley & Lester, tinners and repairers, whose store is 
on De Mers avenue, near the freight depot. 



38 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 

These gentlemen are from Le Sueur county, Minnesota, where they 
were engaged in their present occupation. They removed to this city in 
May last, and shortly after arriving opened their present establishment, 
speedily acquiring a very good trade. 

Having a practical knowledge of their business, and an extensive ex- 
perience, they personally attend to the manufacturing of their tin-ware,, 
of which they carry a large and well selected stock. 

In repairing they are kept constantly busy, and indeed find it fre- 
quently very difficult to fill all the orders they receive. 

With a present business so large and so rapidly increasing, these gentle- 
men have every prospect of a successful business future. 

A. ^y. SMITH. 

One of the most important industrial establishments in the city is the 
Eed Kiver Flour and Saw-mill, owned and-operated by Mr. A. W. Smith.. 
The superior quality of Eed Eiver Yalle}^ wheat, and its peculiar adaption 
to milling, has made the flour of this section world famous, and that pro- 
duced by this mill is remarkably pure and white. 

The large pineries in the adjacent state of Minnesota, and the easy 
means of transportation afforded by the rivers which unite at Grand Forks, 
makes this an excellent point for the establishment of saw-mills, and Mr. 
Smith does a very large lumber business. 

» 

gra:n^d foeks boat yard. 

This is another important local industry, and one that has contributed 
materially to the city's growth and advancement. The yard was estab- 
lished in 1871 by Mr. N. W. Kittson, of St. Paul, who placed it under the 
charge of Mr. D. P. Eeeves. It afterwards passed under the control of the 
Eed Eiver Transportation Company, who at present control it. 

s. swExxuMSo:Nr. 

Nowhere, if we except perhaps the railroad and telegraph, has Amer- 
ican genius been more remarkably displayed than in the wonderful ma- 
chinery it has invented to aid the farmer in the work of cultivating the soil 
and. gathering his crops. 



OF GRAND FORKS. 39 



Improvement follows improvement so rapidly in this department of 
mechanics, that what to-day seems unsurpassable, to-morrow will be anti- 
quated, and we shall doufctless not rest until we have a combined har- 
vester, thresher, and mill. 

Although we have not yet reached this last stage of perfection, the 
Osborn favorite agricultural machinery, for which Mr. Swennumson's is 
the local headquarters, is wonderful, not only for the mechanical ingenuity 
displayed, but likewise for its wonderful adaptation to all the various farm- 
ing operations. 

Mr. Swennumson is from Jacksonville, Iowa. He has traveled ex- 
tensively through the Northwest, selling horses and cattle, and has had 
an agricultural experience of over 20 years. He established himself here 
last spring, and has already done a very large business, which gives ever}^ 
promise of greatly increasing in the near future. 

». 
JOHXSON & ANDERSON. 

These gentlemen are wholesale and retail dealers in crockery and 
glass-ware, — the only exclusive merchants in this line in the city. 

The senior member of the firm (Mr. Johnson) has for many years been 
engaged in this branch of business at 513 Washington avenue south, 
Minneapolis, and a little over a year ago, seeing the growing importance 
of Grand Forks, he, in company with Mr. Anderson, opened a store in 
this city. Their stock, which is very large and well selected, embraces 
china-ware, including bed-room sets in numerous varieties and styles, 
breakfast, dinner, and tea sets, many of them of beautiful designs, table 
cutlery in great variety, stone-ware, of which they have a large assort- 
ment, looking-glasses and mirrors, lamps of all sizes and shapes, vases, 
plated and willow wares, pictures, frames, glass-ware, etc. 

Mr. Anderson is the local representative, and to his good judgment 
and business ability the firm owes the major part of its success. The 
firm is already doing quite a jobbing trade, which is being rapidly extended 
and gives every promise of being very large in a few years. 

GAHR & DOBMEIER. 

We must not omit to mention the Grand Forks brewery, of which these 
gentlemen are the proprietors, as it is one of the most important manu- 
facturing establishments in the city. The senior partner is from Ger- 



40 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 

many, where he was engaged in his present occupation before coming here, 
so that he brings with him a large experience, which has been of material 
benefit to him in the making of his present business a success. The 
brewery has a capacity of 4,000 barrels annually, all of which is sold in 
the city or surrounding country. 

WILLIAM SHAXXOX. 

Mr. Shannon is from Canada, and shortly after his arrival in this city 
be opened a first-class carriage and wagon factory and repair shop. Being 
a thorough mechanic, and understanding his business in all its details, he 
speedily obtained a very satisfactory custom, which has been on the steady 
increase ever since. 

Speaking of the advantages this country offers to persons in this trade, 
Mr. Shannon says that they could not be better, as work is plenty and re- 
munerative. 

FITTER BROTHERS. 

These gentlemen came to Grand Forks, the one from St. Louis and the 
other from New York, over two years ago, and established themselves as 
dealers in groceries and provisions. They built the large store (22x52) 
which they now occupy, at the corner of Third street and International 
avenue, one of the most central localities in the city. Here they carry a 
very large stock of staple and fancy groceries and provisions. Their trade 
is not confined to the city, but extends over much of the surrounding coun- 
try, embracing many important towns. They are among the most suc- 
cessful merchants in the city. 

FRAXK ROFF. 

Mr. Roff conducts a large livery and sale stable, where he keeps con- 
stantly on hand a fine stock of riding and driving horses, buggies, 
carriages, and road wagons for hire, and also horses and mules for sale. 

He is from Rochester, Minn., but has been established in his present 
business here for some time. 

The demand for teams and vehicles is very large at a point like this, 
■where dozens of land seekers are daily arriving to inspect the surround- 
ing country, and Mr. Roff finds a well-paying business in supplying 
transportation to his numerous patrons. Indeed, the' difficulty is to find 



OF GRAND FORKS. 41 



accommodations for all, and not imfrequently he is taxed to the utmost to 
meet the demand. He, however, spares no pains to keep not only a large 
stock but also a good class of horses and carriages, and visitors or those in 
search of land cannot do better than to obtain their teams from him. 



E. F. LUMBAED. 

Mr. Lumbard is proprietor of the city bakery, besides conducting a 
confectionery and grocery store. 

His bakery is the largest in the city, his trade embracing not only 
Grand Forks, but also much of the surrounding country. In the manufac- 
ture of his bread he uses only the best and purest flour, made from the 
famous No. 1 hard wheat, and as a result it is as fine and white as pos- 
sible. 

He does a very large and satisfactory business, which he is rapidly ex- 
tending by his industry and push. 

Having had a long and practical experience with horses, he is of inval- 
uable service to those desiring to purchase working stock for their farms, 
and in his stables will be found at all times a fine collection of animals 
specially adapted to farming purposes. He makes it a rule to deal squarely 
with every one, and can guaranty the soundness of all horses or mules 
sold by him. 

This is of great importance, especially to the inexperienced buyer, and 
is an advantage of which he should not fail to avail himself. 

JOHX STEWAET. 

Mr. Stewart is the proprietor of a grocery store on De Mers avenue, 
formerly owned by Mr. F. M. Crandell, but which the former gentleman 
purchased a little over a year ago, since when he has continued to manage 
the business himself. , 

He carries a fine and extensive stock of coffees, teas, sugars, pickles, 
canned goods, and, in a word, a complete assortment of staple and fancy 
groceries. By strict attention to business he has acquired a large trade, 
which he is continually increasing and extending. 



42 THE COMMERCE AND MJ^NUFACTURES 



J. CUMMIXGS. 

To shoe a horse as it should be done is an art which requires experience 
to acquire, and although there are many blacksmiths professing to under- 
stand the bu&iness, there are few who are really masters of it. Mr. Cum- 
mings is one of these few, and has, consequently, one of the largest cus- 
toms in this line in the city. He came from Canada to Grand Forks in 
March, 1881, and shortly after arriving here commenced business. It was 
not long before his superior abilities were discovered, and he acquired a 
large trade. Although horse-shoeing is his specialty, he does all kinds of 
blacksmithing, repairing, etc. His business for last year shows a very 
gratifying increase, and a good promise for the future. 

J. AV. WORKS. 

Mr. Works is from Maine, and came to this city in February, 1882,. 
shortly afterwards opening a large sale and livery stable on De Mers ave- 
nue, between the Griggs House and Mansard House hotels. He buys and 
sells horses, oxen, mules, etc., and does a very large and extensive business. 
His livery stable is first class in every respect, and he is at all times pre- 
pared to supply teams and guides to parties desirous of visiting the sur- 
rounding country, either as land-hunters or simply on pleasure trips. 

The demand made on him for teams and conveyances of all kinds 
alone amounts to very large proportions, especially during the spring and 
autumn, when the rush is the greatest; and as the majority of the new- 
comers become farmers, they necessarily create a large demand for stock 
of all kinds. It is therefore not surprising to learn that the business of 
this gentleman already reaches very large figures, and that it gives every 
indication of rapidly increasing in the near future. 

JACOB BERG. 

Among the earliest business establishments to locate in a growing west- 
ern town there is almost invariably a photograph gallery, probably because 
the settlers are fond of sending home photographs of themselves and their 
homes. Mr. Berg cannot lay claim to having been a pioneer of Grand Forks, 
since he has only been here a little over one year, but in his particular line 
he was one of the first to locate here. He came from Minneapolis, where 
he had been employed at his present business with 'John Olsen, a photo- 



OF GRAND FOBKS. 4S 



grapher of that city. Having had a long and thorough experience, his 
work shows every evidence of the care and ability with which it is exe- 
cuted. 

O. BAKQUIST 

This gentleman came to Grand Forks in January of the present year, 
and shortly after his arrival he opened a retail liquor establishment on 
Fourth street. He carries a large stock of fine wines, whiskies, liquors, 
etc., and his place is fitted up in a neat and tasty manner, while the whole 
business is conducted quietly and orderly. Mr. Barquist is from Wabasha 
county, Minnesota, where he was engaged in business. He speaks most 
encouragingly of the future of this city, pronouncing it the most substan- 
tial city this side of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 

BROWX & SOX. 

The members of this hardware firm are Mr. W. H. Brown and Mr. F. A. 
Brown, his son, both of whom have had a long experience in their present 
business, as their store, established in 1877, was the pioneer hardware store 
in Grand Forks. 

These gentlemen carry a large and full stock of general and building 
hardware, blacksmith supplies, sashes, doors, building paper, etc. They 
make a specialty of the celebrated "Charter Oak" cooking-stove and ''Ar- 
gand " base burner, both coal stoves. They are also manufacturers of tin- 
ware, of which they keep on hand a fine assortment, and take orders for 
sheet-iron work, which they execute in the most satisfactory manner. 

They are doing a large trade, and consider Grand Forks a splendid bus- 
iness point. 

REED & CO. 

Among the more recent establishments in Grand Forks, we must men- 
tion that of Messrs. Eeed & Co., retail dealers in wines, liquors, and ci- 
gars, whose place is on East Third street, near the agricultural warehouse 
of Seymour, Sabin & Co. They have a very large stock of imported brandies^ 
old whiskies, fine wines and liquors, all of the purest and best brands to be 
found in the market. 

Their saloon is tastefully and elegantly fitted up, everything being as 
neat and comfortable as paper, paint, and good fixtures and furniture can 
make it. 



44 THE COMMEBCE AND MANUFACTURES 

The proprietors are from Wisconsin, but were persuaded to remove to 
this city by the reports of its fine business prospects. Since their arrival 
the}^ have enjoyed a very fine custom, and are satisfied that they made a 
good move in coming here. 

STEWART & SUTLIFF. 

These gentlemen are blacksmiths, who, having had a long and prac- 
tical experience in the business, are prepared to do all kinds of work in 
their line in the most satisfactory manner, and at very reasonable rates. 
They have only been established here during the present year, yet they 
have already acquired a large business, and are meeting with the success 
their skill and ability deserves. 

T. E. DAYIES. 

This gentleman is the proprietor of a store on Third street, where he 
keeps a stock of fruits, candies, liquors, etc. He came to Grand Forks 
from Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, a city which has been "boomed" 
to a great extent during the last two years. That Mr. Davies should have 
left there to go into business in this city, is an evidence that he, at least, 
considers this the better and more substantial business point of the two, — a 
conclusion which the future will most likely prove to have been correct. 
Places which spring suddenly into size and importance are likely to ex- 
perience an equally sudden collapse while those which, like Grand Forks, 
grow rapidly, but at the same time substantially, retain their size and im- 
portance. Mr. Davies is doing a good business, and has every reason to 
feel satisfied with the change. 



OF GRAND FORKS. 45 



HOTELS. 



Grand Forks is well supplied with hotels and boarding-houses, yet they 
are all doing a very large business, and not unfrequently it is difficult to 
find accommodations. 

THE GEIGGS HOUSE. 

This is the largest hotel in the city. It is located on De Mers avenue, 
near the business portion of the city. It is a large three-story brick- 
veneered building, with accommodations for over one hundred guests. 

The present proprietor is Mr. C. B. Ingalls, a gentleman who has been 
very successful in its management. 

THE ma:n^saed house. 

The proprietor of this hotel is Captain Maloney, an old pioneer, wha 
erected the first part of his hotel in 1874. 

The Mansard is a large and commodious house, well-kept, with good 
meals, and clean, neat bed-rooms, and does a very large business. 

COMMERCIAL HOTEL. 

This first-class hotel is located on Third street, at the intersection of 
Alpha avenue, near the business center of Grand Forks. The house is new 
throughout, having been erected the past spring by the proprietors, Messrs. 
Eyan & Crowley, expressly with the view of its adaptation to its present 
purposes. 

The building has a frontage of 50 feet on Third street, by a depth of 
70 feet, with a large kitchen in the rear. The office and sample room are 
each 24x22 feet, while the dining-room is 24x42 feet. The house is two 
stories high, with a mansard roof, and contains 32 elegantly furnished bed- 
rooms. 

The proprietors, understanding that comfortable sleeping apartments 
and good meals are no less requisite to the success of their hotel than a 
new house and furniture, have devoted themselves specially to these mat- 
ters, and having had a long experience in hotel keeping, as the proprietors 



46 THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 

of the Red River Valleij House, they have succeeded in at once placing their 
house in the front rank among the hosteh'ies of Grand Forks. 

Mr. H. P. Ryan is from Ottawa, Canada, and Mr. C. Crowley from New 
York. The former came here some two years ago, and was shortly followed 
by his partner. 

THE NORTHWESTERN HOTEL 

is the oldest hotel in the city, the building having been erected for this 
purpose by the Hudson Bay Company, in 1874. Mr. P. Carroll is the 
present proprietor, who takes a pride in keeping his house up to the highest 
standard of excellency. 

THE YIETS HOUSE. 

This is another first-class hotel, kept by Mr. W. B. Dow. He sets an 
excellent table, and has comfortable bed-rooms and large sample-rooms for 
commercial travelers. Mr. Dow can accommodate about 75 guests. 

THE RED RIYER HOUSE. 

This is a small hotel, but none the less neat and clean. It is located 
on De Mers avenue, north of Third street. Mr. Joseph Dennis is the pro- 
prietor, a gentleman who does his best to please his guests, and succeeds 
so well that his house is always full. He sets a good, substantial, table, has 
neat, clean bed-rooms, and charges more moderate prices than some of the 
other hotels. 

A. KXUDSOX. 

Mr. Knudson keeps a Scandinavian hotel, which is very largely patron- 
ized by his co-patriots, who form a considerable portion of the industrious, 
hard-working population of this section. His house is clean and neat, 
and the comfort of the guest is the object of the continual solicitation of 
the proprietor, who personally attends to the management of the whole 
house. 

L. LEMBECK. 

Mr. Lembeck is the proprietor of a boarding-house. He is from Cold 
Spring, Minnesota, and established himself in his present business in this 
city last June. He has a large house, sets a good table, and does his best 
to merit the large patronage he enjoys. 



OF GRAND FORKS. 47 



THE NEWSPAPERS 



Grand Forks is well supplied with newspapers, both daily and weekly. 
The Herald, Plaindealer, and Neivs publish daily and weekly editions, 
while the Scandinavian citizens have a weekly called the Tidende. The 
Golden Valley is particularly devoted to the interests of land seekers and 
those seeking information concerning the Ked Eiver country. 

THE HERALD. 

The editor of the Herald is Mr. Geo. B. Winship, formerly proprietor of 
the Caledonia Courier, published at Caledonia, Houston county, Minn. 

He removed here several years ago and started the Herald as a 
weekly. His paper meeting with marked success, he, on the first of No- 
vember, 1881, added a daily edition. 

The daily is a four-page, seven-column sheet, ably edited, containing 
all the associated press dispatches, special telegrams, and much local 
news, while the weekly is a condensation of the daily editions, with much 
new and interesting matter added. Its circulation approaches 1,500, and 
is rapidly increasing. 

There is a large job printing office and book bindery connected with 
the Herald, 

THE PLAINDEALER. 

Mr. W. J. Murphy is the present proprietor and editor of this, the 
oldest newspaper in Northern Dakota, the first number having been issued 
in 1875. The Plaindealer contsims hill telegraphic reports from all parts 
of the world, together with much local news. Its editorials are spicy and 
well written, and it is a credit alike to its editorial management and the 
city. It publishes a daily and weekly edition. 

THE NEWS. 

The NeiDS, though a younger claimant on popular favor, (its first daily 
edition bearing the date June 25, 1882,) yields nothing to its older cotem- 
poraries in the amount of news it furnishes, nor the ability displayed in its 



48. THE COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 



editorial columns. Messrs. Hansbrough & Briscoe are the proprietors and 
managers. The paper is independent republican in its sentiments. 

THE TIDEXDE. 

This newspaper has a very good circulation among the Scandinavian 
settlers in the Valley. It is ably edited, and contains all the news. 

THE GOLDEX VALLEY. 

Mr. A. L. Teele, formerly editor of the Moorhead Argonaut, conducts 
the columns of the Golden Valley. The special object of this paper is, as 
we have said, to afford information to those seeking to obtain a correct idea 
of the Eed Eiver Valley, and the agricultural, commercial, and industrial 
advantages it offers. It is a paper which should be in the hands of every 
one proposing to come west, and we strongly recommend those who pro- 
pose to remove to this section to send for copies, which will be cheerfully 
sent on application. 



>-o-^ 



CONCLUSIOiN 



We give below a table showing the number of establishments in Grand 
Forks and the number of their employes, together with the amount of busi- 
ness done by them during the j^ear ending September 31, 1882. Also the 
increase under each of these heads as compared with the year ending Sep- 
tember 31, 1881: 



OF GEAND FORKS. 



49 



COMPARATIVE BUSHSTESS STATEMENT 
For the Two Years Ending September 31, 1882. 



Kind of Business. 



Agricultural Implements 

Bakers and Confectioners 

Bankers 

Barbers 

Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights. . . . 

Brick-yards 

Butchers 

Clothing Dealers, (Dry Goods, Boots 

Shoes, Hats, etc.,) 

Contractors and Builders 

Doctors and Dentists 

Druggists 

Furniture and H5use Furnishing 

Dealers 

Grocery, Flour, and Feed Dealers 
Hardware Dealers and Tinsmiths 

Hotels and Eestaurants. 

Jewelers 

Laundries 

Lawyers 

Livery and Sale Stables 

Lumber Dealers 

Painters 

Printers and Publishers 

Eeal Estate Dealers 

Surveyors and Architects 

Unclassified* 

Wines and Liquors 



9 
6 
3 
4 

8 
4 

2 

14 
15 
12 

4 

3 
14 

5 

10 
5 
3 

15 
5 
9 
4 
5 

23 
3 
3 

12 



Totals 197 61 776 256 $4,567,288 $2,095,447 



S 



35 

18 

9 

11 

26 
65 



42 
130 

18 
12 

10 

56 
21 
96 
13 
10 
22 
27 
31 
10 
22 
31 
5 
18 
26 



9 

5 

2 

3 

11 

25 
3 

18 
31 



4 
21 

5 

22 

5 

8 

9 

9 

18 

3 

13 

15 

2 

3 

12 



Amount 

of 
Business. 



I 465,000 
46,000 



8,400 
33,000 
45,000 
44,000 

417,000 

550,000 
10,800 
25,000 

54,000 

560,000 

125,000 

121,247 

15,500 

8,000 

17,000 

112,341 

217,000 

27,000 

35,000 

1,500,000 

12,000 

56,000 

63,000 



Increase. 



246,000 
20,000 



2,500 
16,000 
20,000 
20,000 

255,000 

200,000 

3,200 

12,300 

24,000 

200,000 

25,000 

37,247 

4,500 

3,500 

8,000 

26,000 

67,000 

13,000 

13,000 

837,000 

5,000 

16,000 

26,200 



* "Unclassified " embraces the following branches of business : Brewery, Cigar Eac- 
tory, and Boat Yard. 



60 THE COMMEBCE AND MANUFACTUEES 



POST-orncE. 

The following interesting statistics were furnished us through the kind- 
ness of the postmaster, Mr. D. McDonald : 

Amount received from M. O., year ending July 1, 1881, - - - $29,826 73 

" paid on " " u « . . 15,927 85 

" received from " " *' 1882, - - - 45,738 32 

" paid on " " " « _ . 28,364 55 

Total receipts from sale of stamps, etc., 1881, - - - - 5,256 25 

1882, - - - 7,923 87 



Estimated No. pieces mail matter forwarded, 1881, - - _ _ 365,000 

1882, - - - 620,000 



D. McDonald. P. M. 



THE UNITED STATES LAND OFEICE. 

The business of the United States Land 0£Qce at Grand Forks having 
grown too large for the limited accommodations it previously occupied, its 
offices have been recently enlarged, and it now occupies the entire second 
floor of Gotzian's block, 22x80 feet. 

The receiver, Mr. W. J. Anderson, has prepared the following summary 
of all business transacted since the opening of the office, April 20, 1880, 
up to October 1, 1882. 

SUMMARY. 

Acres. 

6,328 Homestead entries, embracing, - - - - - 984,298.23 

4,425 Pre-emption filings, embracing, - - - - 708,000.00 

2,386 Timber-culture entries, ------ 379,756.12 

385 Soldiers' declaratory statements, embracing, - - - 61,300.00 

4,421 Cash entries, embracing, ------ 691,083.95 

403 Excess receipts, embracing, ----- 3,180.51 

154 Einal proofs, - - - 18,609.94 

13 M. B. land-warrants, 1,800.00 

Total receipts of the office, ------- $982,854.89 



^' 



OF GBAND FORKS. 61 



POPULATION. 

Nothing we could possibly say would show more plainly the rapid de- 
velopment and increase in population of this section than these figures. 
The homesteads alone, placing the number to a family at five persons, gives an 
increase in population of thirty-one thousand six hundred and forty in less 
than thirty months, or at the rate of over one thousand per month. And 
this, be it remembered, is the increase in the country, entirely independent 
of the hundreds and thousands who have taken up their domiciles in the 
various towns and cities. 

Since the first part of this work was written the line of the St. P., M. & 
M. Eailroad, on the west side of the river, has been completed to the interna- 
tional line, giving direct communication with Winnipeg and the Canadian 
Pacific road. 

The Duluth and Winnipeg, a new opposition line passing through Grand 
Forks, and which will very likely be under the control of the Grand Trunk 
Eailroad Company, is being pushed to completion, and the Minnesota & 
Dakota Northern, a line running north from Moorhead and the Northern 
Pacific, is also being rapidly laid. The western extension of the St. P. M. & 
M. is being pushed towards the Devil's Lake country, a section destined 
to be of immense agricultural importance. A new telegraph line to con- 
nect with the south and Minnesota is being rapidly constructed. 

It is exceedingly difficult to correctly estimate the population of a city 
growing as rapidly as Grand Forks, but from a carefully-collected census 
we think it is about six thousand. 

At an election held on the first of September last, 386 votes were cast 
in the city and 111 in the country; the vote being on the question 
whether the county should be bonded for $10,000 to build a jail. As we 
have already noticed, it was very largely affirmative. The bonds were sold at 
a good premium, showing conclusively that the credit of the county is 
most excellent. 

Situated so advantageously on the borders of a large navigable river, in 
the center of a splendid agricultural region, connected by numerous lines 
of railroad with all sections of the country and the northwestern British 
provinces, Grand Forks has before her a future second to no other city in 
Dakota. Her citizens are industrious and energetic, and propose to keep 
her in the future, as she has been in the past, at the head of the commer- 
cial and industrial cities of this section. They intend that she shall ever 
be the Metropolis of the Ked Eiver Valley. 





Grand Forks 



DAKOTA 



ITS 



Commerce, Manufactures 



.AuISriD I^FIOOPLEJSS 




a'^ 



SAINT PAUL 
Northwestern Publishing Company 

188 2 




COHTEKTS. 



Anderson, C 36 

Baker, C. L 37 

Banks 14 

Citizens' National 14 

First National 15 

Merchants' 15 

Barquist, 43 

Bateman & Cliamberlin 25 

Berg, Jacob 42 

Beyer, Harr}^ 37 

Boat Yard, Grand Forks 38 

Bosard & Clifford 19 

Brooks Bros 32 

Brown & Son 43 

Busse, William 33 

Business Statement, Comparative 49 

Conclusion 48 

Cummings, J 42 

Davies, T. E 44 

Davis & Caniff 33 

Deeds, Table of Warranty IS 

De Laney, A. H. 26 

Elder & Co 27 

Fitter Bros. 40 

Gahr & Dobmeir 39 

Grand Forks 3 

Grand Forks Land and Loan Co 24 

Grand Forks Boat Yard 38 

Haley & Lester 37 

Holes, Andrew 23 

Hotels . . . , 45 

Commercial 45 

Griggs House. 45 

Knudson, A 46 

Lembeck, L 46 

Mansard House 45 

Northwestern 46 

Red River House 46 

Viets. 46 



Johnson & Anderson n: 

Lamb, John 2 1 

Lamb, Lewis 2! 

Land-Office, United States v 

Luke, Steele & Co ;; . 

'. Lumbard, E. F 41 

I McCallum, John J y,'} 

j McQuillan, P. T 8t; 

I Manufacturers, Merchants, etc :j(i 

! Newspapers 47 

Golden Valley 4s 

Herald 47 

: News 47 

i Plaindealer 47 

Tidende 4s 

j Parsons & Teele 22 

! Population 5 ] 

I Post-Offlce 50 

Preface 2 

Professions, The Ifi 

Reed & Co 43 

Rice,T 34 

Roff, Frank 40 

Rueth, M 34 

Shannon, Wm 40 

Sill, Julius 32 

Smith, A. M 3s 

Stewart, John 41 

Stewart &- SutUff 44 

Sullivan, M. W 32 

Swennumson, S 38 

Taylor, E. & Co 31 

Tharaldson, H. & E 35 

Vermont Loan and Trust Co .20 

Wilson, H. P. & Sons 28 

Wittelshofer, M. 35 

Works, J. W> .' 42 

Zerfass, John, Jr -. 29 



^iis^/^y-j. 



hJ('. s 



NORTHWESTERN PUBLISHING GO. 



PUBLISHERS OF 



Commercial and Industrial 

!i%a;k of Toiiiaiid[!oiuii]|IIip!,Ek.,Ete. 



NOTICE. 

On receipt of 50 cents per copy the [N'orthwestern Publishing Co. will 
send to any address in the United States or Canada the following descriptive 

and statistical pamphlets: 

MOORHEAD and CROOKSTON, MESNESOTA. 

JAMESTOWN, VALLEY CITY, and 

GRAND FORKS, DAKOTA. 



FARMERS, MERCHANTS, MANUFACTURERS, 

PROFESSIONAL MEN, EVERYBODY! 

Write to us, (inclosing stamp for reply,) and we will give you full infor- 
mation as to soil, climate, agricultural advantages, yield of crops, prices of 
lands, population, best business points, etc., etc., in the 

GREAT NORTHWEST. 

We have full and accurate business reports from all sections of Minnesota, 
Dakota, and Montana, and will furnish all information free of charge to any 
one writing to us. 

NORTHWESTERN PURLISHING CO., 

Box 2258. ST. I^AUL,, MINN. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

I! it Mil i 'ii i|:i ^i III I Mil 



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